Who Isn't a Cultivator of Dark Arts

Chu Xingchen was taken aback when he saw Yaoqin flash him a peace sign.

Who would’ve thought that someone as aloof as her would make such a playful gesture?

Thanks to their swift movements, the time between their landing and wiping out all the Qingfeng Sect members was barely a few breaths.

The miners still working the night shift at the quarry hadn’t even grasped what had happened yet.

Chu Xingchen amplified his voice with spiritual energy and shouted:

"By the authority of the cultivation world, you’re all free to go home now."

For a moment, the miners stood frozen in disbelief. Only when one of them burst into tears of joy did the rest snap out of it, scrambling to flee the quarry.

Chu Xingchen paid them no further mind. When he’d entered the warehouse earlier, there had only been a small amount of Blood Qi Spirit Stones left—likely because a shipment had already been moved.

His gaze shifted to Yaoqin. "Any survivors?"

"Of course," Yaoqin retracted her peace sign. "Out of the six inside, I spared two."

This time, Yaoqin realized she might have misunderstood Chu Xingchen. Perhaps it was a friendly gesture after all.

Chu Xingchen nodded and followed Yaoqin into the mine shaft.

Around the corner, part of the damaged ritual array—previously wrecked by Li Xingtian—had been repaired. Of the six black-robed figures, four already lay dead.

The remaining two had been impaled through their limbs by strands of spiritual energy, pinning them to the wall.

"I’ve sealed their meridians with spiritual energy. They won’t even get the chance to kill themselves," Yaoqin said coldly, her icy gaze sweeping over the two captives. "They’re yours to interrogate. Your methods earlier were quite... effective."

Chu Xingchen frowned. "I don’t appreciate that tone! Those were life-saving remedies!"

Yaoqin gave a light nod, humoring him. "Then by all means, use your remedies to interrogate them thoroughly."

Chu Xingchen: "..."

Since when did Yaoqin act like this? Did she pick this up from my damn disciple?

I’ll have to give Li Yingling a good scolding when we get back!

Still, he didn’t immediately pull out a cauldron. Instead, he first scanned the two black-robed cultists with his system.

When the scan landed on the one pinned to the left, a few particularly interesting tags appeared.

[Target: Liu Yang]

[Cultivation: Late-Stage Foundation Establishment]

[Blue Trait: Acquired Demon Body]

[White Trait: Lives in Fear]

[Black Trait: Coward to the Core]

[Temporary Black Trait: Utterly Terrified]

The moment Chu Xingchen saw this gem, he knew he’d be saving himself a batch of medicinal ingredients.

Deliberately, he turned to the other captive first. "Honored cultist, would you mind telling me who your superior is?"

The man responded with a cold, defiant sneer, his eyes sharp and unyielding. Not a word left his lips.

Chu Xingchen didn’t hesitate.

A flash of sword light—

The sneering cultist was cleaved in half, blood splattering onto Liu Yang beside him, who was powerless to resist.

With a sigh, Chu Xingchen then turned his gaze to Liu Yang.

Having just witnessed Chu Xingchen kill without a second thought, Liu Yang felt his entire body go numb, his heart pounding in terror.

The hell kind of interrogation is this?!

This is just an excuse to murder people!

If someone doesn’t cooperate, shouldn’t you at least ask a few more times?! Killing at the first refusal—are you the cultist here?!

Chu Xingchen looked at Liu Yang, still pinned to the wall, and sighed regretfully.

"Liu Yang... Why don’t people ever cherish their lives?"

Liu Yang, trembling all over, froze at those words. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at Chu Xingchen in disbelief.

"You... you—"

"How do I know your name?" Chu Xingchen smiled faintly. "Capturing you was just to verify some intel. If you don’t talk, we’ll just grab another batch elsewhere."

Liu Yang’s mind instantly spun into chaos. Countless names flashed through his head.

Who... who’s the traitor?!

Chu Xingchen’s spiritual sword glimmered faintly as he spoke calmly:

"Liu Yang, it’s your turn. Would you kindly tell me who your superior is?"

After just a split second of hesitation, Liu Yang saw Chu Xingchen’s impatient expression—as if he were already preparing to bisect him.

He blurted out: "I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Just spare my life!"

Chu Xingchen looked almost disappointed, as though he’d genuinely wanted to execute another cultist rather than extract information.

Liu Yang suddenly realized: This handsome bastard just wants to kill me! He doesn’t even care about the intel!

Chu Xingchen sighed. "Go ahead. I’ll spare you."

"You’re not lying?!"

"I swear on the honor of the Tianyan Sect of Central Plains."

The moment he said this, Yaoqin’s gaze turned eerily toward him.

Seeing Yaoqin’s reaction, Liu Yang relaxed slightly—at least there’s some credibility here—and hurriedly confessed:

"Our superior is with the Wind Sword Sect... The entire sect has already joined our Holy Order—"

Chu Xingchen’s brow furrowed. "Holy Order?!"

Liu Yang hastily corrected himself: "C-Cult! Cult! I’m just a low-ranking lackey handling this area. The Wind Sword Sect is in charge of consolidating resources and sending them to the Holy Maiden!"

"Any codes or signals for contact?"

"There’s a token!"

"Good. I’ll spare you." Chu Xingchen nodded in satisfaction and turned away. "Yaoqin, he’s your problem now."

"You—you can’t go back on your word! What about the Tianyan Sect’s reputation?!"

Chu Xingchen walked toward the mine entrance without looking back. "I’m not from the Tianyan Sect. Why would I care?"

Liu Yang’s eyes bulged with fury as he stared at Chu Xingchen’s retreating figure—

Then a streak of sword light flashed across his vision.

After waiting briefly at the entrance, Chu Xingchen saw Yaoqin emerge from the mine shaft.

Her voice was subdued as she spoke:

"I’ve got the token. If the Demon Suppression Bureau’s intel is accurate, the Wind Sword Sect has a former sect leader at the Nascent Soul stage, along with several Elders at mid-to-late Golden Core."

Hearing the slight waver in her tone, Chu Xingchen knew that even someone as confident as Yaoqin couldn’t guarantee taking down an entire sect alone.

"Student Yaoqin, your philosophy seems to be ‘if you kill everyone who sees you, it counts as a perfect stealth mission.’"

Chu Xingchen grinned. "You need to learn to think outside the box."

Yaoqin gave him a puzzled look.

"What’s the big deal about cultists?" His smile turned sly. "Who says we can’t be cultists too?"

"...What?!"

"Just watch my performance later."

The Wind Sword Sect was quite a distance from the Qingfeng Sect’s quarry. This far out, the spiritual veins were scattered and fragmented.

Unlike the Qingfeng Sect’s picturesque mountain-and-river setting, the Wind Sword Sect’s location had a desolate feel—

Jagged, towering peaks covered in yellow earth, with a modest-looking sect complex built halfway up the mountainside.

At a glance, it was far less opulent than the Qingfeng Sect.

About twenty li from the Wind Sword Sect’s mountain gates, Chu Xingchen reluctantly poured out the Blood Qi Spirit Stones from his spatial ring.

Yaoqin stared at the massive pile and sighed in admiration.

"Chu Xingchen, I underestimated you."

His face full of reluctance, Chu Xingchen turned to her with grave seriousness.

"Yaoqin, these are my life savings! You have to get them back later, no matter what!"